One designed for competitive swimmers will likely have more support, and come up higher in front. Maybe something like these? Or this waterpolo suit?

Glad that this was helpful to you all. :) Now I just need to read and implement her ideas... Heather

The book, Organized Simplicity is available as a kindle version today. You can read this even if you don't have a kindle on the kindle for pc app, or on most smartphones, tablets, ipads, etc. Hope this is useful to someone! Heather

Hey Neighbor! ;) I think spellingcity.com either works on ipad, or has an app. I don't know of anything off the top of my head for memorization... what are you memorizing? I've had Faith record herself reading her memory work, and then just listen to it repeatedly until she can say it along with the recording. That has worked pretty well. Heather

I actually finished my second book last week, but was too slow to post it in that thread. I read Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran. It is a fascinating look at life in Rome in the time of Caesar Augustus. This lined up nicely with where my DD is at in SOTW 1, so it was very interesting to me. This week, I'm jumping ahead 1200 years and starting Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follat, since I borrowed it and the sequel from my mom. 1. An Audience of Chairs by Joan Clark 2. Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran

There is also this curriculum map of Peace Hill Press products.

I'm new to the challenge. I don't know how much I'll post on here, but I'm excited to attempt to read 52 books this year. My 7 year old daughter is also doing her own version. We cut out a bunch of circles and made a "book caterpillar"... She colored the head, and she will add a circle (body segment) for each chapter book she reads. I'm trying to steer her towards slightly more challenging books than Magic Treehouse, which she reads in about 30 minutes, lol. She is also excited about reading 52 books in 52 weeks. I just finished my first book of the year, An Audience of Chairs by Joan Clark. I enjoyed the book, but it was also hard to read at times because the main character has Bi-Polar Disorder, which my sister-in-law was recently diagnosed with. So... 1. An Audience of Chairs by Joan Clark

Dollhouse?

I agree! These are so fun!

Usually, Peace Hill Press products allow photocopying of student pages within the same family, but I don't own that particular book. The advantage of the PDF is you don't have to mess around with photocopying, you can just print directly. And no shipping! lol

What a thoughtful offer! Bumping for others to see. I hope someone is open to being blessed by your generosity. :)

I was surprised how much a plastic window insulating kit helped in our chilly school room. You basically affix clear plastic to your window frame with double sided tape, and then use a hair dryer to get it tight and wrinkle-free.

Well, we were the first on both sides to have kids, and all our siblings have babysat at least once, at our home. DH's sister in particular has been a huge help to us over the years. She is single and doesn't seem to mind. She also has no problem saying no if she is busy or doesn't want to. Once DH's brother and his wife had kids, we do babysit each others kids, but in the babysitters home. I would feel put out to go sit alone at their house if my own family was at home. Also, part of the reason I enjoy watching my niece and nephews is it gives the kids "cousin time". I would say, "It isn't going to work for me to come to your house and babysit on Saturday nights. You are welcome to drop them off here to spend time with our family and pick them up when you are done." The inconvenience of moving sleeping babies may mean a paid sitter is suddenly "worth it". Just my thoughts... Heather

We love Wedgits. I would get the ones that have the slightly larger white piece, especially if there might be younger siblings in the future. This set is nice because it includes the base and design cards. Kids of all ages seem to enjoy Wedgits. Heather

From about May to October, it is once a week, both trash and recycling. From November to April, it is every 10 days. *rolleyes* Good luck keeping track of that! Plus, our garage ends up with so much trash and recycling in it, my husband can barely fit his truck in. It's ridiculous! Heather

Stellaluna is available in board book form. :)

I found once the baby was here, the crib was much less appealing to the cats. ;) Heather

For that age, I like the Prismacolor Scholars. The regular Primacolors are very soft and break easily under a child's heavier touch. Also, if they roll off the table, the leads sometime break inside the wood. Very frustrating. Switching to the Scholars has eliminated much of the frustration, while still being much nicer to draw and color with. Heather

I just did ours today, so I feel your pain. But mine did come with instructions. We had the Police one. Which ones are you doing? We did the pirate one last year, and it also required assembly. It was worse because you had to make all these little boxes. The police one, you just kind of made this divider type thing and it went together pretty well. Heather

How are they doing with the copywork? The copywork in the WWE2 workbook is quite a step up, and then you add dictation, too. But, you're not using the workbook, so maybe that doesn't matter so much... What about skipping ahead in WWE1, or doing every other week, or something? I also always combined a non-writing day with a writing day (so day 1&2 together, then day 3, then day 4). If you did this 5 days per week, you would get through WWE1 more quickly. Good luck figuring out what will work best for your kids. Heather

Yes, we've just started doing this, too. We are currently enjoying The Moffats by Eleanor Estes. I have downloaded Where the Red Fern Grows, but I don't know what ages that would be most suitable for. We have also enjoyed The Little Prince and The Incredible Journey of Edward Tulane on past car trips. Have a great trip! Heather

Also, many of the "first" international adoptions were infants, because there was not much red-tape involved. Now, even children who enter orphanages as infants are often not in their "forever families" until they are two or three, or even older, because of all the adoption paperwork that must be done. Please not, I do think it is good that due diligence is done before sending kids off to another country, but it does have the unintended consequence of children spending much longer in an institution, which is directly related to risk of RAD. Heather

I laughed out loud when I read the bolded, only because I just borrowed that exact book from the library for my second grader... and it has the distinction of being the first book that has ever had her in tears of frustration! :tongue_smilie: She liked the excerpt in WWE2, is a strong reader, but it was just too much! Maybe you'll have better luck, though. :) Heather

What about finding a day home that is willing to take an older child? Around here, day homes charge between $25-40 per day, depending on age, quality, etc. Maybe you'll even find a homeschooler who runs a day home (I know at least two). Good luck! Heather

This is great! Thanks for sharing. Heather (also a Canadian :) )